The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled more than $223 million in grants and loans to increase competition and economic opportunities for meat and poultry processors and producers around the country.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Omaha, Neb., to make the announcements, touted as part of an effort “to make agricultural markets more accessible, fair, competitive and resilient for American farmers and ranchers.”
The government is investing $73 million to fund 21 grant projects, marking the first round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, or MPPEP; $75 million will go to eight projects through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program; and another $75 million will be directed to four meat and poultry-related projects through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan program, Vilsack and the USDA stated.
The dollars are directed to small and medium-size players in 19 states, some of which are likely to see additional grants.
“We anticipate and expect additional announcements in December or early 2023,” Vilsack said.“We identified a relatively small group of about 40 or so projects that merit further review and evaluation.”
The USDA received more than 300 applicants for the grants, with the impact on the surrounding communities among the factors considered, Vilsack said. “I’m confident there is strong community support for the projects,” he responded when asked about the pushback seen in some areas to meat processing plants opening or expanding.
Asked about whether the agency might be investing in smaller players only to have them get bought out by larger corporations, USDA officials said the agency would be notified of a potential sale or change in ownership under the requirements of the programs announced Wednesday.
The USDA established a lending program in part to help smaller players remain independent if they hit a rough patch, Vilsack told reporters. Still, “the USDA has no plans to purchase any of these facilities,” he added.
USDA will soon take applications for an additional $225 million, which would bring to $375 million the total being spent on independent processing plant projects, the agency said.
The government’s investments play “more to a local and domestic opportunity,” with many recipients in the middle of the country and relatively small, Vilsack said when asked about potential changes to the export landscape. “The producer in many of these areas today only has one option, or is faced with a significant backlog of processing,” he said. That lack of options puts the producer “in a difficult bargaining position,” he noted.
